Very pleased for Heather W, but lets not demean Mr M by comparing them. This was a 250 and the first woman's win since about 1980. All credit to her, and its great that she and Laura R will be motivated to greater things by their competition. Poor old Mr M has been battling alone for so long. Great as it is to have some up and coming woman's players its really not in the same league. The most depressing yet encouraging thing in this match was the comment that Mr M is taking Oliver Golding to his boot camp next year. Depressing in that it reminds me of the loss that Murray's eventual retirement be and encouraging in that Mr M is obviously thinking about a future roll in British Tennis.

Summary: M could have won the match; was the better player in the first 2 sets. M was just a bit unlucky; D was just a bit more lucky. Also M just recovered from sickness during the week and it takes a toll from your body to win decisive point(s) against the likes of D. Continued practice in his great game, belief in his ability to do the difficult and full recovery from illness will undoubtedly provide reassurance to all.

Summary: M could have won the match; was the better player in the first 2 sets. M was just a bit unlucky; D was just a bit more lucky. Also M just recovered from sickness during the week and it takes a toll from your body to win decisive point(s) against the likes of D. Continued practice in his great game, belief in his ability to do the difficult and full recovery from illness will undoubtedly provide reassurance to all.

I was really dissapointed at the end of the match...could have easily been Andy's victory but have to salute to Novak's comeback....Well done you both.Made it an entertaining match to watch.

I think it had all the ingredients that make finals so much more exciting to watch, even if my nerves were in shreds. High quality play from both plus a bit of drama (that tweener by Djokovic was outrageous). Who knows - if Andy had been fitter it could well have been over in straight sets and that ghastly Chinese crowd deprived of their hero. Andy did extremely well not to let himself be distracted them and for maintaining his composure when the going got tough. Also things weren't helped by bumbling linesmen/women and an umpire who should be looking for another job.

I think it had all the ingredients that make finals so much more exciting to watch, even if my nerves were in shreds. High quality play from both plus a bit of drama (that tweener by Djokovic was outrageous). Who knows - if Andy had been fitter it could well have been over in straight sets and that ghastly Chinese crowd deprived of their hero. Andy did extremely well not to let himself be distracted them and for maintaining his composure when the going got tough. Also things weren't helped by bumbling linesmen/women and an umpire who should be looking for another job.

Djokovic: "It's difficult to judge who was better because it was so close throughout the whole match. We had so many rallies in three and a half hours; for a best-of-three set match it is a very long time. Could have easily gone the other way. He was five match points up. When I faced those match points, I tried to focus on each individually. He was so close to the victory that I cannot say I was the better player.

"I'm trying to focus now on the end of the season. I need to play well indoors. I need to try to stay consistent with my results and eventually get a shot at No. 1 of the world. It's my biggest objective in this moment. It's something I'm aiming for. Obviously this is going to be a huge confidence boost and is going to help me in the race for No. 1. As I said, it's still not done. I still have to play well indoors."

Murray: "It was a disappointing one to lose. I've lost tougher matches than that before in the biggest events. So I'm sure I'll recover from it pretty well.

"The second set, I probably played a little bit better. But he came up, served very well on the match points. The one match point I had on my serve, he hit the forehand onto the edge of the line. On the game where I served for the match, he also came up with some good shots.

"It's not like I threw the match away. I didn't make any real glaring errors or anything. When I had my chances, he just served very well and hit a couple of lines when he needed to."

Brilliant match report and a great account of a thrilling match, watching the best two players in the world is a privilege pure and simple. Andy has taken his seat at the top table and is playing the most aggressive and exciting tennis I have ever seen him play but with high percentage aggression there sometimes comes a higher level of unforced errors but I know which type of tennis I prefer to see Andy play. Andy and Djoko are supreme tennis players and proved that today, this is a rivalry that will hopefully be around for the foreseeable future.

Onwards and upwards is what I say, whilst dissapointed at the result I still have that warm" Readybrek" glow from Andy taking RF apart yesterday!!!

What an exciting end of year we have in prospect, RF with loads of points to defend, the Rafa will he or won't he pay again, Andy with relatively no points to defend and the opportunity to gain and Djoko wanting his No 1 spot back, bring it on......

Good post MM. Yes the tennis Andy is playing these days is scintillating stuff. It's to his credit he didn't back off from it. While Nole may still be well ahead of him on points, I think at present they are neck and neck in terms of how they are playing. So perhaps hardly surprising that Andy didn't manage to beat him 3 times running. OK he came away with no trophies from the Asian swing but he can come away with his head held high having thrashed smugfed and participated in a truly thrilling knife edge final which as Nole himself acknowledged could have gone either way.

"I have lost tougher matches than that before and I am sure I will recover. but it was a top quality match. Both of us played some unbelievable tennis at times. I was literally the difference of one-two cm between winning the match and losing it. Th third set he payed better than me. When I had my chances he served very well and hit the lines where he needed to. Most of our games have been tight but I feel like my game is there."

And he's right zarfeen.Good to read too that Andy has invited Olly Golding to Miami and also apparently Jamie Baker for 2nd half of his training bloc. He said that he's told younger players he's there if they want to talk to him as he remembers how helpful Tim was to him when he was coming up. He wants to leave a legacy I'm sure.